Virginia Landry, one of Lakin's customers, does not shy away from showing off her custom-made coffin.

"You understand he made it to fit one size, doesn't fit all. This one, it's me," said Landry.

For now, with rows of removable shelves, Landry's coffin is the perfect storage spot for her collection of hand-sewn quilts.

"Any problem knowing what this will ultimately be? You know I'm in my 80s, by the time you're in your 80s, if you're not accepting the fact that you're not going to be around forever, what's wrong with you?" said Landry.

Lakin believes there is nothing wrong with confronting and preparing for death.

"It's not a tragedy, everybody dies," said Lakin.

Lakin runs a website and lectures on affordable funeral alternatives, but his specialty is designing coffins and building them in his own shop.

"I'm a woodworker, and I talk to people about home funerals, so of course I'm going to try to make a coffin," said Lakin.

They're not your typical coffins. Over the past five years, Lakin has developed a line of coffins that before that fateful day serve as fully functioning furniture, including beds, bookcases and a chest of drawers.

Lakin said they are simple to convert.

"Basically, like on the bookcase coffin, you take the shelves out, you take the screws that are holding the shelves up out, and if you haven't put the handle on yet, you put the handles on and you're ready to go," said Lakin.

Lakin said if more people had the attitude Landry has, Americans could save millions of dollars on funeral costs.

He said he still finds many people reluctant to buy; most he said are simply unwilling to confront the inevitable.

"There are more people that are willing to talk about it now than there used to be, but it's still a tough sell for a lot of people," said Lakin.

According to the National Funeral Director's Association, the average cost of a metal coffin or casket is about $2,300.